Rum
Rum (ラム ,Ramu) is the second-in-command of the Black Organization and the second main antagonist in the entire manga and anime franchise Detective Conan. Background Judging from Subaru Okiya's descriptions, Rum appears to have high rank in the organization and is very close to the boss. Later on, Haibara remarks that Rum is second only to the boss of the Black Organization, suggesting that he/she is their second-in-command. While she had never met Rum herself, she had overheard other members give seemingly contradicting descriptions. Rum's identity, sex and mission are currently unknown. Rum was involved with the death of Kohji Haneda, seventeen years ago. Gin implies that it is an incident in which Rum had screwed up. It has been heavily implied that Rum is one of these three main suspects: Hyoue Kuroda, Rumi Wakasa, and Kanenori Wakita. In the Black SDB+, Gosho Aoyama confirmed that Rum is one of the three. Personality Bourbon has told to Conan that Rum is exceedingly impatient. Appearance Rum has a damaged eye which has been replaced with an artificial eye. It is unknown which eye was damaged. Various Black Organization members have given conflicting accounts of his/her overall appearance and build. Some say Rum is a strongly-built man, some say he/she looks feminine, and some say he/she is an old man. The conflicting descriptions of Rum's appearance suggests that he/she doesn't present himself to others in a straightforward fashion. Plot overview Scarlet Epilogue (Manga: 898, Anime: 783) Shuichi Akai (as Subaru Okiya) calls Jodie Starling and Andre Camel to the Kudos' house. He informs them that the undercover CIA agent Hidemi Hondou reported to him that a new organization member is on the move. As she only sent three letters "RUM", Akai deduces that it was done in a hurry. He recalls having heard the code name a few times when he was still infiltrating the organization, and notes that the member seems to be really close to the boss. Akai also tells them to report this back to James Black, while emphasizing that their new threat is someone even more important than Gin. Scriptwriter Murder Case (Manga: 906-908, Anime: 792-793) Conan asks Haibara about Rum. She tells him that she never met Rum in person but has heard of the number two-ranked agent in the Organization. His/her characteristics differ depending on who is describing him/her. Some say he/she is a strongly-built man, some say he/she looks feminine, and some say he/she is an old man. Others believe that all of these are just descriptions of body substitutes Rum uses. Haibara also says there is one characteristic that is the same for all stories about Rum: one of his/her eyes is damaged and has been replaced with an artificial eye. They then encounter a murder case where all three suspects happen to have characteristics like Rum's: Kuramichi Habanaka a strong-built man, Ronpei Sakaba a feminine-looking man, and Denji Shibakaru an old man. Department Store Stabbing Case (Manga: 939-941, Anime: 843-844) While not directly related to Rum's plot, this case showed how several different people could see the same person and describe them as completely different. The culprit in this case flees down the stairs past various people of different heights and past objects of different colors, which resulted in the Detective Boys giving contradicting eye witness accounts. To further liken the situation to Rum, Genta even claims that he saw the number two written on the culprits clothes. In addition this case had a secondary plot point involving mascara. Kohji Haneda's Death Case (Manga: 950, Anime: 862) After Conan and Subaru solve the murder of Kunihisa Hiyama, they realize they can solve the dying message of Kohji's case. They decipher the meaning of the missing letters on the mirror of Kohji Haneda's room. Kohji's dying message from seventeen years ago was "ASACA RUM", so Rum might be involved in his death and the death of Amanda Hughes, a big fan of Koji's, along with the disappearance of Asaka, her bodyguard. Since the dying message was "P T O N", the answer to it must contain all of the missing letters of "U MASCARA" PUT ON MASCARA - P T ON = U MASCARA U MASCARA - ASACA (for Asaka) = U M R Which can be rearranged to make RUM making the answer "ASACA RUM" Soul Detective Murder Case (Manga: 951-953, Anime: 863-864) Conan decides that the missing bodyguard Asaka is most likely Rum. After the case was over Masumi speaks to Mary and says that the only information that Gaito Hotta, the soul detective, had was that he believed Asaka to be a woman. He was going to pretend that he had summoned Kohji's spirit and have it say that a woman was going to kill him. According to Masumi, the culprit said that someone saw Asaka holding "that small mirror". Conan considers that if Asaka is Rum, then perhaps what Haibara said about being feminine refers to looking girly on the outside but strong like a man on the inside. If Rum had been a bodyguard seventeen years ago, then their age must be pretty high. Conan also ponders the possibility that Mary is Rum after having shrunken, being girly yet strong and older than she looks. A song named ASACA (Manga: 954-957, Anime: 866-867) Rokumichi Hado, a famous artist coming back from a seventeen year hiatus, announces a new song called "ASACA". Because of the spelling and the timing, Conan and Subaru go to the concert hall to investigate. There they encounter Bourbon and Vermouth in disguise as Azusa Enomoto who are trying to get in as well. Their presence suggests that the Black Organization decoded Kohji's dying message mirror and are investigating for the same reasons as Subaru and Conan. By the end of the case, both groups determine that the song being named "ASACA" is only a coincidence and not related to Rum or Kohji's murder. Curse of the Nue (Manga: 958, Anime: 872) Conan inwardly comments about Vermouth and Amuro's presence in the last case. He states that they must have been there because they know about the code "ASACA RUM" that was left by Kohji Haneda seventeen years ago. When Azusa mentions that she had seen two strangers approach the detective agency, Conan immediately assumes that it might have been Gin and Vodka, but it turns out to be Heiji and Kazuha instead. Interchanged Betting Ticket Case (Manga: 975, Anime: 894) Conan suspects Wakita is being Rum because of his left eye. Burning Tent Murder Case (Manga: 987-989, Anime: 909-910) Kuroda is shown looking at the Kohji Haneda case on his computer. He seems to make some kind of connection between the case and Rumi Wakasa. This story incidentally, also reveals that Rumi cannot see with her right eye, squarely making her a candidate for Rum's true identity. The Field Trip to Kyoto (Manga: 1005, Anime: 941) In the end of the case, the three Rum suspects, Rumi Wakasa, Kanenori Wakita, and Hyoue Kuroda are mentioned in the side notes. All three suspects appear in the same page, and seemingly focusing on Shinichi's involvement in the case. Missing Maria Higashio Case (Manga: 1008, Anime: 942) Rum sends an email to Bourbon, asking him to gather information about Shinichi, telling him to hurry up stating that "Time is money". Black Bunny's Club Case Case (Manga: 1011, Anime: 953) In the middle of the case, Rum sends another email to Bourbon, asking him to hurry up with the information about Shinichi. Nagano Snowy Mountains Case (Manga: 1029, Anime: TBD) Conan asks Amuro if he knows Rum. Amuro refuses to answer, but describes Rum as being "exceedingly impatient". Non-canon plot overview The Darkest Nightmare (Movie: 20) Rum doesn't appear in this movie directly: * Haibara visualized his/her three black figures as in file 906, and his/her artificial eye. * When she finally regained her lost memory, a Curaçao's flashback shows Rum speaking to Vermouth through a computer in an altered voice. Vermouth was about to execute Curaçao because her brain recorded facts inconvenient to the organization, but Rum's voice stopped her. He appointed Curaçao as his/her right-handed agent. * Rum sends orders to Vermouth and Gin ordering them not to execute Bourbon and Kir because he/she received a new message, apparently from Curaçao, that they weren't NOCs. * Rum also orders them to retrieve Curaçao to verify if the message is authentic or not. * Vermouth has a conversation with him/her during the ending credit, while she is in her car along with Kir. She lets Kir listen to what he/she has to say before hanging up. Relationships analysis Black Organization The Boss The boss is his/her only direct superior, meaning that he must trust him/her the most. Gin It is unlikely that Rum and Gin have already worked together. Gin is the third-in-command in the Black Organization and the only supervisor in the general oversight division and he is always directly supervising things when it comes to confronting the organization's risks. Gin's ignoring of the case involving Rum seventeen years ago means that it is a threat to Rum and not to the organization. Curaçao Curaçao is a member who works as Rum's right-hand agent, but has only appeared in movie 20. In the past, because her brain recorded facts inconvenient to the organization, Vermouth was about to execute her, but Rum decided to appoint her as her right-hand agent. Character inspiration Gosho Aoyama was inspired by the fictional character Colonel Sebastian Moran in the Sherlock Holmes' series to create the Black Organization second-in-command. He was the Professor Moriarty's right hand man and "the second most dangerous man in London". Gallery Trivia * His/her enemy role in the series is just like the second-in-command of the alien boss of the evil organization Jocker in the children's show Kamen Yaiba.Manga Volume 92, File 7; anime episode 895. * Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane byproducts, such as molasses or honeys, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. It's the liquor pirates often drink. * Gosho Aoyama, as a crossover joke, has introduced Lum Invader, the female protagonist from the manga Urusei Yatsura, as the Black Organization member Rum. He also showed Lum in a panel in file 906. Lum's name has a similar pronunciation to "Rum" because "R" and "L" sound the same in Japanese. * In a joke by the author, Rum has already appeared, taking that appearance at or before file 906. This is a reference to the cameo by Lum here. See also * Characters * Black Organization * Rum (alcohol) Notes Category:Black Organization Category:Villains